MAO -- Hikikomori no Mainichi（ひきこもりの毎日）

 

Welcome to Hump Day! Indeed, Wednesdays can be rather blah but over here at least, considering that we had a very waterlogged April, I'm happy that May has come in blazingly sunny and not too cold either. 

A few years ago, I was once jokingly accused by a relative on whether I had become a hikikomori (a shut-in). I didn't counter too forcefully since, yes I admitted, I never really did go all that much and the pandemic was putting a major curb on person-to-person socialization. Plus, my room often appeared as if a mini-tornado had ripped through the place. But as it is in 2024, outside of the odd invitation to lunch, a movie or dinner, I'm usually as snug as a bug on a rug staying within the neighbourhood and writing out my two articles a day at least on "Kayo Kyoku Plus".

Recently, I came across this short and sweet video by singer-songwriter MAO,（眞魚）aka Tomoe Kurohata, a self-described outlaw and nerd. Titled "Hikikomori no Mainichi" (The Daily Life of a Shut-In), her song came out in the last couple of months, and I had been expecting something akin to technopop. Instead, it's a mix of rap and old soul delivered in a smooth velvety voice while MAO is sticking around in her room. Basically the attitude is "Heck, I'm done with the speeches...I'll be in my futon".

Looking at the video, I confess that MAO has one up on me in her circumstances. She at least seems to have a more modern and comfortable swivel chair than I do.🪑